


Lazy Evasion

by thegizka



Series: Shikamaru Week 2019 [7]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Laziness, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 00:25:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17415452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegizka/pseuds/thegizka
Summary: Shikamaru would rather jump out a window than pay attention during lessons.Written for Shikamaru Week 2019 Day 7:  Free Day.





	Lazy Evasion

School was such a drag.  They honestly expected kids to sit in one spot for hours while Iruka-sensei droned on about chakra control and  _ not _ fall asleep?  Yeah right! Obviously they didn’t understand the attention span of the average twelve year old.  But that wouldn’t stop his mother from yelling at him when she found out he had to stay after class for detention.

 

“What am I going to do with you four?” Iruka-sensei sighed, rubbing his forehead.

 

“You could just do nothing,” Shikamaru mumbled.  He earned a hard look in reply.

 

“Come on Sensei, just let us go home,” Kiba whined, Akamaru echoing his tone.

 

“I can’t do that.  You are all falling behind because you’re not paying attention in class, and it’s my job to get you to graduation with the rest of your peers.  So we need to find a solution.”

 

Shikamaru exchanged a glance with his best friend Chouji who was munching on some peanuts he had stashed in his pockets during lunch.  It seemed awfully silly that their sensei thought the same solution would work for all four of them. He was nothing like Naruto, who blatantly disrespected authority and acted out for attention, or Kiba, who had difficulty sitting still and focusing on anything he didn’t find interesting.  He wasn’t even like his best friend whose insatiable hunger was often a distraction. Shikamaru simply didn’t care enough to put in the effort.

 

“Look, we have a practice test at the end of next week to see whether you’re on track to graduate.  As it stands, you four are almost definitely going to fail.”

 

“Hey!” Naruto cried, indignant.  “ _ I’ll _ pass!  I’m going to become Hokage someday.  Believe it!”

 

Iruka-sensei looked about as tired as Shikamaru felt.  He sighed heavily.

 

“Leading up to the exam, you four will stay after class an extra half hour every day for additional lessons and review.”

 

“You’re kidding!”  Kiba glowered. “There’s no way you can do that!”

 

“Unless you can prove to me that you’re actually learning what I’m teaching, yes, I can and I will.”

 

“I can prove that I already know everything important about being a shinobi!” Naruto declared, moving over to the window.  “Watch me disappear!”

 

“Come on Akamaru, we’re out of here,” Kiba cried, following him out the window.

 

“Wait for me!”  Chouji scrambled to follow.  With a sigh, Shikamaru followed, Iruka-sensei shouting at them to come back.  There was no way he was sticking around to listen to the lecture alone. That would be such a drag.

 

Since none of them had any plan when they escaped, they ended up sticking together, moving as a tiny mob tearing through the village.

 

“Iruka-sensei’s going to come looking for us,” Chouji panted.

 

“We should find somewhere to hide!” Shikamaru suggested, hoping that would mean an end to the running.  He didn’t like using so much energy.

 

“Got any suggestions?” Kiba asked, slowing his pace.

 

“The Hokage faces have all sorts of hidden corners and things,” Naruto said.

 

“He’d catch us before we got there,” Shikamaru disagreed.

 

“We could go to my house,” Chouji offered.

 

“Your mom would ask too many questions and then yell at us.  Besides, Iruka-sensei will probably check our houses if he can’t find us in the village.”

 

“Well do you have any ideas?” Kiba challenged.

 

“Where is he least likely to look for us?”

 

“His house!” Naruto cried excitedly.  That idea hadn’t actually crossed Shikamaru’s mind.

 

“You know where he lives?” he asked curiously.

 

“No, I figured you did.”

 

“I meant the academy,” Shikamaru admitted.

 

“That’s a great idea!” Chouji beamed, always ready to back up his best friend.  Kiba grinned, too.

 

“We just ran away from there.  He’ll never expect us to go right back.”

 

“Then let’s go!”  Naruto redirected their charge, leading them back towards the academy.  They slowed as they approached, remembering that a lot of the senseis would still be cleaning up and preparing for tomorrow’s lessons.

 

“Where exactly should we go?” Kiba panted.  “The roof?”

 

“No, we’d be too easy to spot.”

 

“A classroom?” suggested Chouji.  Shikamaru shook his head, turning over options in his head.  What space was rarely used and far enough away from the main halls to minimize the possibility of detection?

 

“The training room,” he finally decided.  “I doubt anyone would look for us there.”

 

“Let’s go!”  Naruto began heading into the school yard, but his companions pulled him back into the bushes where they had paused to formulate their plan.

 

“We have to be careful not to be detected, or we’ll be back to square one,” Shikamaru hissed.  “Kiba, can you and Akamaru stay alert and let us know if any of the adults are around?”

 

“Leave it to us!”  Akamaru barked in agreement.  Both raised their noses to sniff the air, picking through the different scents permeating the school yard.  “We should be clear to the doors.”

 

“Alright, go quickly but don’t rush, and try to keep stuff between you and the windows.  Someone might glance outside and spot us.”

 

They approached carefully.  It was common for village kids to hang around the school yard and play into the evening while their parents finished work, so hopefully they wouldn’t look particularly suspicious sauntering over to the academy building.  Naruto, ever impatient, sped to their destination and had to wait for the others, trying to subtly encourage them to hurry. Shikamaru wondered if he could actually do anything subtly as his efforts were earning several weird looks from some of the other kids.  If he blew their cover, it would be a huge drag.

 

“Dude, knock it off,” Kiba growled when they caught up.  “What if one of the senseis spotted you?”

 

“Well obviously they didn’t!” he shot back.  “If you guys had moved faster, we could already be in the training room.”

 

Kiba rolled his eyes.  “Out of the way.” He cracked open the door so he and Akamaru could stick their noses through, sniffing to see if the coast was clear.  With a nod to the others, they slipped inside.

 

The halls were quiet as they tiptoed through them, passing closed doors to classrooms from which senseis could spring and catch them.  They let Akamaru lead the way, trusting him to alert them of any approaching adults. They did have to duck into a bathroom and wait for a pair of senseis to pass once, but they reached the training room without any major hiccups.

 

“All right!” Naruto whooped, racing around the large, empty room.

 

“Quiet down!  Just because we made it here doesn’t mean someone won’t hear us and come investigating,” Shikamaru cautioned.

 

“Kiba will just warn us if anyone comes near, right Kiba?”

 

“I’m not a walking shinobi detector.  Why don’t  _ you  _ stand by the door and keep watch?”

 

“As long as we don’t do anything obnoxious, I think we should be fine.”  Shikamaru slumped onto the floor and closed his eyes.

 

“Wait, are you taking a nap?”  Kiba asked. “Don’t you sleep enough in class?”

 

“No.  Chouji, pass me a chip.”

 

Chouji had snagged a potato chip bag from somewhere while they were in transit and now offered one to his friend.  He seemed to make snacks appear out of thin air. Shikamaru liked to believe he had secretly mastered the teleportation jutsu and summoned food when he was hungry.

 

“Ooh, can I have some?” Naruto asked.

 

“Sure.”

 

Soon they were all gathered around the snacks, relaxing and chatting.  Shikamaru only half paid attention. Naruto and Kiba bickered loudly, Chouji tried to keep the peace, and he just thought about what a drag this was.  Lounging around not having to worry about lessons or chores was great of course, but he was fairly certain Iruka-sensei would visit their parents and tell them about his escape and the extra lessons.  His mother would come up with an incredible scolding for him that evening. His father would have to take her side. He’d be forced to put in enough effort to pass the test. The next few weeks were going to be a HUGE drag.

 

“Hey Shikamaru,” Kiba interjected, nudging him with his foot.  “I don’t get it. You’re decently smart, right?”

 

He cracked open an eye and raised an eyebrow.

 

“I mean, you figured out where we could hide and thought about how to avoid the senseis.  So why do you sleep through class? Why not do the work so you don’t have to bother with Iruka-sensei’s lectures?”

 

“Because it’s  _ work _ ,” he drawled.

 

“Shikamaru’s the laziest person I know,” Chouji told them.  “He hates work.”

 

“But isn’t it more work to have to do extra lessons?” Naruto asked.

 

“You tell me,” Shikamaru grinned.  “We’re in the same position, aren’t we?  Besides, as soon as you start putting in a little effort, they heap more and more responsibility on you and expect you to put in even more effort.  I’d rather not bother with any of it.”

 

“You know, that makes a lot of sense,” Naruto mused.

 

“Does it now?”

 

“Iruka-sensei!” Chouji cried, grabbing up all of his snacks as they jumped to their feet.

 

“Get back here you hooligans!”

 

They dodged around his outstretched arms and careened down the halls, shouting and laughing as their sensei gave chase.  The few senseis who were still in the building poked their heads through the doorways to watch them tear through the halls.  A few joined Iruka-sensei, but by the time they burst through the academy doors, the runaways had split up and were disappearing into the village.

 

Shikamaru ran a few blocks before dropping back to his usual saunter.  Iruka-sensei was probably already tired of chasing them for the day and unlikely to follow them.  He felt a little bad for giving their well-meaning sensei the runaround, but spending the afternoon relaxing had been much more satisfying than extra lessons.  He just hoped his mother wouldn’t be too angry when he arrived home. Maybe he would wander around for a while longer to put that off. He just knew it was going to be a real drag.


End file.
